Russian Court Jails Danish Jehovah’s Witness for 6 Years in First Religious Extremism Case

Dennis Christensen leaves after a court session in Oryol © Reuters / Andrew Osborn

Danish Jehovah’s Witness Dennis Christensen has become the first member of the religious group to be jailed for extremist offences in Russia. The group has been banned in the country since 2017.

A district court in Oryol, some 320km south of Moscow, sentenced Christensen to six years in prison after finding that he was the “de facto leader” of a local branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and had been responsible for organizing its activities.

Christensen, a 46-year-old construction worker and son of a Jehovah Witness missionary, had been living in Russia since 2000. He and his wife Irina were preaching for years, although Christensen was not officially a member of the group, the court heard.

He pleaded not guilty, claiming that he had been merely practicing his religion, in accordance with the Russian constitution. Before the verdict was announced, he shouted, calling for religious freedom to be protected in Russia.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, told Reuters that they consider the verdict to be unjust.

In 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court declared the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist organization,” and ordered all of its 395 regional branches to be disbanded. All of the group’s property was handed over to the state.

The conflict between Russian authorities and the religious group had been brewing since at least 2004. The national health authorities objected to the group’s strict rule prohibiting blood transfusions, especially in cases involving children.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses argued that the Russian law on extremism does not mention blood transfusion in any way, but the court rejected its defense. Since then, more than 100 criminal cases against the organization’s members have been opened and dozens of printed booklets have been put on a list of banned extremist literature.

However, last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual media Q&A session that branding the Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremists is “utter nonsense,” and promised to look into the prosecution of the group’s members.

Non-Consensual Sects: Senators Prepare Bill to Protect Russians from Destructive Cults

A sectarian prayer house in the village of Nikolskoe, the Penza Region, Russia © Sputnik

A group of Russian senators are preparing a bill to protect the population from destructive sects, including those of foreign origin and those that mask themselves as ‘schools of leadership’, the principal sponsor of the motion told the press.

“Sects are a very dangerous environment. The legislation on this subject needs to be corrected. We are now preparing proposals how to protect our citizens. Unfortunately, at present moment not a single region in the country is without such sects,” RIA Novosti quoted Senator Elena Mizulina as saying on Thursday.

She said that the bill would be prepared in cooperation with government experts and presented to the lower house before November 30.

Mizulina noted that many of the destructive sects arrived in Russia from foreign countries and that not all of them presented themselves as religious groups – some acted as various leadership courses and the like.

“By using various psycho-techniques these sects are defrauding our citizens of their property. In very widespread cases the sects attempt to manipulate the people’s conscience,” she said.

According to the upper house’s working group for countering the threat of destructive sects, about 500 such groups are currently active in Russia.

In 2012, President Vladimir Putin urged the government to toughen the laws governing the activities of the totalitarian cults cropping up across the country. Totalitarian religious groups pose a threat to the society and people, he said: “It’s a hunt not only for souls, but also people’s property.”

Shortly before this, a reclusive Muslim sect had been discovered in Russia’s Tatarstan. Over 70 people, including 27 children, spent a decade in an eight-level catacomb without access to education, healthcare or daylight. In 2007, a similar story was uncovered in Russia’s Penza region, shocking the entire country: Nearly 30 cultists dug a shelter, stocked it with food and spent several months waiting for the apocalypse, which they expected to happen in May 2008.

In February 2016, the State Duma announced that its members had started preparing a bill to protect citizens from destructive sects, but this initiative has not taken the form of a concrete legislative draft.

In June, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that severely restricts freedom of religion by prohibiting any religious speech or evangelization outside of places of worship.

In June, 2017, Russian security forces raided the offices of the Church of Scientology.

In August this year, the Justice Ministry listed the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group as a banned extremist organization. This happened after a lengthy court process that had been started because some members of this group had endangered the life of their children by refusing to allow blood transfusions – which is in line with Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs.

Russian law currently allows religious groups to form, including both those that require no official registration and legal formation and ones that should be officially registered. The sects are allowed to stage any activities if they don’t violate existing laws.

It will be very interesting to watch the development of this bill. How far will Russia go in restricting 'foreign' religions? Will only certain Muslim sects like Sunni or Shia be permitted. Will Salafism and Wahabism be outlawed? Will evangelical Christianity be driven out and only Russian Orthodoxy survive? 

Russian Security Forces Raid (Extremist) Church of Scientology

Free speech has never been a 'right' in Russia and that has led to many an atrocity.

But I can't help but wonder if it has not also led to some good.

Cracking down on Scientology, and Jehovah's Witnesses is a frightening thing to all religious people, and yet, both churches are off-track and Russian people are better off without them. Perhaps there is good and bad in everything.

By Ray Downs 

Police during a search of the premises by investigators at Scientology Church In Moscow last June.

Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA

UPI -- The Russian Federal Security Bureau raided a Church of Scientology office in St. Petersburg, calling it an effort to uncover information about religious extremism.

"Searches are being conducted in connection to the criminal case concerning illegal entrepreneurship, incitement to hatred and the establishment of an extremist association," a source told the Russian news agency, TASS.

The raid comes about one year after the FSB raided several locations in St. Petersburg connected to the Church of Scientology due to allegations of "illegal business dealings."

The Russian government has previously ruled that, because it is not recognized as a religion, proselytizing is a form of money laundering.

I'll need help wrapping my head around that!!!?????

St Petersburg, Russia

I love this image with its beautiful display of pre-Soviet Russian splendour,

 alongside the drab, unimaginative structures of communism

The church, a controversial religious group founded in the United States that is derided by some as a cult, has long been at legal odds with the Russian government.

In 2015, a Moscow court ruled that the group cannot be considered a religion because its name is trademarked in the United States and prohibited it from engaging in its religious activities.

"When decisions like this are handed down, actually everyone loses, and this decision affects not only the Church of Scientology of Moscow. This decision is a sign of disease in the justice system," the group's Moscow branch said in a statement.

But the legal entanglements go back even further.

According to court documents from the International Center for Non-Profit Law, the Church of Scientology first opened its doors in Russia in 1994. But in 1998, the Moscow Justice Department required religious organizations to re-register with the government and refused to grant the Church of Scientology its religious organization status.

Since then, there has been a steady back and forth of legal pushes between the two entities and the Church of Scientology is now considered an "extremist" group by the Russian government.

One wonders how much the Russian Orthodox Church is behind Putin's war on western religions?

In April, Russia's Supreme Court outlawed Jehovah's Witnesses, declaring that an extremist organization and banned its 175,000 adherents from congregating on Russian territory.

Russia outlaws Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremist'

Court ruling puts Christian denomination in same category as

Islamic State militants

By Mike Bambach  

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a member of the managerial center of the Jehovah's Witnesses, discusses Thursday's ruling by Russia's Supreme Court banning the Christian denomination. 

Photo by Dmitry Tischenko/www.jw-russia.org courtesy Human Rights Watch

April 20, 2017 (UPI) -- Russia's Supreme Court outlawed Jehovah's Witnesses on Thursday, putting the Christian denomination that rejects violence in the same category as Islamic State militants.

The court declared Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization and banned its 175,000 adherents from congregating on Russian territory.

Jehovah's Witnesses said it would appeal the decision.

The group's headquarters in St. Petersburg and 395 churches will become state property, according to the Tass news agency.

The Russian government filed suit on March 16 to outlaw the organization, which was already considered an extremist group in St. Petersburg.

Human Rights Watch criticized the decision as "a serious breach of Russia's obligations to respect and protect religious freedom."

"Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia are now given the heartrending choice of either abandoning their faith or facing punishment for practicing it," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Russia's Justice Ministry said Jehovah's Witnesses "violate Russia's law on combating extremism" and their pamphlets incite hatred against other groups.

One can only hope that these actions are in preparation for a crack-down on Islamic extremism which is the real problem for Russia and the world.

‘Sharia Police’ Didn’t Break Law by Trying to Impose Muslim Rules in German Town – Court

    © Sertac Kayar / Reuters

A German court has ruled that a group of Islamists did not break the law when forming a ‘Sharia police force’ in 2014. The group caused public outrage after patrolling a western city in orange vests, instructing residents to abide by the strict Muslim code.

The group's vests had ‘Sharia Police’ printed on them in large block letters, but this did not breach the countrywide ban on political uniforms, the judges ruled. Under German law, a uniform has to be "suggestively militant" or have an "intimidating effect” to constitute a violation.

Apparently, the judges have no idea what Sharia Law is. Otherwise, how could they rule that there was no intimidating effect. 

The judges specifically cited one eyewitness who believed the vests were themed costumes for a bachelor party. They went on to state that there was no proof to suggest that the men were wearing the vests to break the law intentionally.

The court also noted that police in Wuppertal did not find anything criminal about the men wearing the vests, which were not seized by officers at the time.

The ruling has not yet come into effect and can still be appealed by the state prosecutor.

The men, all aged between 25 and 34, sparked anger by patrolling the streets of Wuppertal in 2014, telling nightclub goers to refrain from drinking alcohol and listening to music, and arcade customers not to play games for money, so as not to contradict the strict Muslim religious code of conduct known as Sharia law.

The group was headed by Sven Lau, a controversial Salafist leader who is currently on trial for supporting a terrorist group fighting in Syria.

But I'm sure he has a good heart and only wants the best for German people.!!!???!

In a debate on RT, Maximilian Krah of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party said that the verdict showed that Germany’s courts are unprepared for the culture clash with its Muslim minority.

“The German society and the legal system have no weapons to protect the liberty of the citizens,” he said. “If the country decides that it wants to follow the liberal rules, then the state has the duty to enforce those liberties against the attempts of people in the other way. And this is not what happens in Germany."

“It’s very easy. If you come to Rome, live like the Romans,” he added.

But Remzi Aru of the German Democratic Alliance countered by pointing out the double standards towards Muslims when compared to other religious groups.

“I am against those things, but for everybody, not just Muslims,” he said.

“If you look at the rules and the laws the Jehovah's Witnesses tell you, it is very similar: you should not drink, you should not gamble, you should not drink alcohol, you should not do this, you should not do that. They are ringing your door and the people are not loving it, but they accept it so long as it's within the frame of law. There is freedom of religion in Europe, as long as these people do not harm you and don’t force you to do something.”

There is the point - freedom of religion, as long as they don't harm you or force you to do something. JWs don't wear police uniforms! Both the words Sharia and Police imply a lack of tolerance for those who break the law, in this case Sharia. They may work under the guise of peaceful persuasion for now, but there will come a day when that facade will come down and the real face of the Shariah Police will be revealed, and it won't be pretty. 

Wuppertal is one of Germany's most popular cities for Salafists, who follow a very conservative interpretation of Islam and reject any form of democracy.

The Monday ruling comes as Germany continues to struggle with the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, which resulted in more than 1 million mainly Muslim asylum seekers entering the country in 2015. Many residents across Germany have been vocal in opposing the arrival of the refugees, condemning Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy for those fleeing war and persecution.

Germany needs to stop the funding of German mosques from Saudi Arabia from whence Salafism is infiltrating the western world. Or, get on the bus and go to Friday prayers.